The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 81: Chapter 81

Michael recognized the man well. Surprised to see him there, Michael blinked before greeting the infamous founder of Uncle Uzzi’s Magical Matchmaking Service.
“Uncle Uzzi! Nice to see you again. What brings you to Maverick Point?” he said and shook his hand.
“Hello, Mr. Turner. I’m here to discuss something that I think you in particular might find rather interesting.”
“Is that so?” he asked and looked to his Neta for guidance.
Hunter nodded. His lips were in a tight, straight line, making it clear the old Witch was there about something serious. Shifters knew how to read the room. Body language, scents, micro-expressions—they all told a story. Uncle Uzzi had brought news with him, and from the looks of it, it was bad.
“Tell me, Mr. Turner, have you told that sweet little she-Cat she’s your mate yet?” he asked, blue eyes twinkling.
Michael scented ozone briefly, and he thought maybe that was the old witch’s magic at work. Either way he refused to show how anxious his inner beast had grown at the mere mention of that particular subject.
“Excuse me?” he asked, taken by surprise.
“Don’t play games. I am talking about Kylie McNaughton, of course. I know that you know she is your fated mate. My question is, have you told her? Have you done anything to woo her?”
Coupled with a matching glare, Uncle Uzzi’s no nonsense voice had Mikey ready to spill his guts.
“Uh, Neta?” he asked and looked to Hunter for help.
This was a private matter. His Pride mates all averted their eyes, but they were still in the room. Michael was stuck, and he had no idea what to say.
“It’s really better to just answer his questions,” Hunter returned.
“Well, uh, Uncle Uzzi, I have not had the opportunity yet⁠—”
“Imbecile,” he grumbled and paced the room.
The old Witch waved his hand and a large fan appeared, hovering midair it began to flap as the Witch muttered and paced. Finally, Uzzi turned to face Michael with his hands in front of him.
He was looking at the younger Tiger with a scathing expression, taking him in from his head to his toes with a sneer that made the Pride Healer feel all of two feet tall. This was worse than being caught by his grandmother after a night of drinking and being stupid down by the lake when he was in college.
“Well, your limbs seem to all be intact, and Hunter assures me yo have quite a good head on those large shoulders. So tell me, Healer, what the hell are you waiting for?”
“Well, Uncle Uzzi, it’s complicated⁠—”
“Excuses.”
Michael ran a hand over his head and face.
Shit.
He was an asshole, and Uzzi was right. What the fuck was he waiting for?
“The truth is, I just don’t know what to say to her. I mean, I am trying not to rush her, to be patient⁠—”
“That’s hardly an answer,” Uzzi snorted.
“Fine, then how about this? I am waiting for her to give me a sign—any sign—I need to know that she is ready and willing to be my mate. I won’t pressure her, and I won’t use sex to make her submit to me.”
“Really? I thought you growly types simply take what you want,” the Witch remarked, narrowing his furry white eyebrows. “I can see that as a Healer you were taught the benefits of waiting. That’s good.”
The old man sat back grinning up at the very confused Tiger. Uncle Uzzi had managed to surprise Michael with his perfectly neutral tone and almost complimentary response.
What the heck is going on?
“Uh, thank you?” Michael replied, but it sounded more like a question.
Uncle Uzzi’s smile dropped as quickly as it had appeared.
This, Michael thought, was it.
“Young man, I appreciate what you are trying to accomplish with Kylie by waiting, but I am afraid you are out of time.”
Uncle Uzzi’s eyes seemed to look through him for a moment, then it was as if he were staring at nothing at all. A faint blue glow emanated from the shorter, elderly Witch, but was gone before Michael could blink.
“Tell me, what do you know about her? I mean really know,” Uncle Uzzi specified.
“About Kylie?” Michael looked around the room, at the familiar faces surrounding him.
Normally, he would not discuss his female in company, but this was his Pride. Tigers who made up the Honor Guard he belonged to, and their own unimpeachable Neta. They were his oldest and dearest friends, his family.
Michael trusted them with his life, and they with his. He would trust them to keep any mate of his safe, as he would do for them. With an honest and open heart, he began to tell the old matchmaker what he knew of the sweet yet feisty Southern she-Tiger.
“I know she is beautiful, smart, clever, ambitious, talented, and kind. Sadness shines in her eyes when she thinks no one is looking, and she is a loyal friend who would risk her life to save those she loves,” he recalled, and his beast growled, angry at the fact she put herself in harm’s way. Michael looked around the room, making sure each male understood where he was coming from as he continued to bare his soul.
“My Tiger recognized Kylie McNaughton the moment I first laid eyes on her. You ask what I know of her, Uncle Uzzi, and this is what I know—I want her more than I have ever wanted anyone or anything in my entire life. Kylie McNaughton is the only woman in the universe for me. The she-Cat is my fated mate, and I would die for her without question,” Michael finished, feeling lighter now that he had finally voiced the truth aloud after so many months of keeping it a secret.
“I see,” Uncle Uzzi said, staring at the Tiger with an indiscernible look on his weathered face. “So, you know nothing about her at all!”
The old Witch shook his head and slapped his hand on the arm of the sofa.
“What are yo⁠—”
“Oh shush,” Uzzi said, hushing him while he turned to stare at the far wall.
He appeared to be in deep conversation with someone or something only he could see, and he appeared to be speaking German, if Michael was not mistaken.
“Uncle Uzzi?” Hunter waited for the old man to finish speaking to whatever he was talking to, then the huge, bald Tiger nodded before looking toward his Beta. “Ask her to come inside.”
Brayden left the room to do as his Neta asked, meanwhile, Michael’s Tiger was growling inside of his mind’s eye. Something was going on, and as usual, he was clueless.
Eyebrows raised, he looked about the room for any sign of what was happening, but Uncle Uzzi remained impassive. Hunter had his poker face on, and no one else seemed to be in the know. Whatever was happening, he didn’t like it.
“Will someone please explain⁠—”
“Oh, now you’re impatient?” Uncle Uzzi scoffed. “Michael Turner, you have had months to talk to this woman, to get her to accept your claim, but you, sir, dallied. Now, I think you can wait a few moments longer.”
Shit.
The old Witch was right. Michael held on to his beast, the Tiger was pacing in agitation in that metaphysical plane where he waited to be called by his human half. He listened to the sounds of footfalls in the hallway, and knew Brayden was back, and yes, he had someone with him.
Someone with delicate light footsteps. Someone who approached cautiously. His beast surged forward. The Tiger anxious at the idea his mate was reticent about entering the room.
Of course, he could not blame her. Fearsome she-Cat she might be, but Hunter’s office was chick full of hulking males and one powerful matchmaking Witch. He growled softly, and the others in the room averted their gazes. Not Hunter, of course, he just smirked. Uncle Uzzi rolled his eyes, muttering something about cats needing better training.
Whatever.
Michael just wanted Kylie to feel safe. Of course, growling even louder when the door opened was probably not the right move to inspire feelings of safety and protection.
I’m a fucking idiot.
He quieted his animal and rolled his head on his neck, loosening the tension in hopes of appearing calm. Kylie looked frightened as she entered the Neta’s office. Her celery green eyes darted around the room, landing on his for a beat longer than everyone else’s. But she didn’t stare long.
Still, it made his beast happy. Her instinct had been to look to him, and that was one helluva feeling, he had to admit. Kylie swallowed, and eventually, her gaze found Hunter’s, before she averted her eyes out of respect for the male’s natural dominance. Michael sniffed the air.
Fuck.
He could scent her scrambling emotions, and they were not good. It was not what he wanted her to feel—not at all—especially around him. Kylie wasn’t just nervous. She was outright scared. And that made him mad as hell.
“Kylie?” he asked, and as usual, she didn’t respond.
That was it. The otherwise patient and rational man, who was not only a doctor but the official Pride Healer, lost his carefully constructed cool in his Neta’s office. He felt his claws pop out one at a time, causing a few of the others to step back, regarding him warily. Michael’s entire body shook until finally he opened his mouth and roared—loudly.
“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” he snarled.